Should you add callout assets to every campaign?
Not by default. In most accounts, the best-performing (and easiest-to-manage) approach is to make sure every eligible ad has callout coverage, but that doesn’t mean duplicating callouts across every single campaign. Callout assets work best when they’re relevant, accurate, and scalable. If a callout applies broadly (for example, “Free shipping” or “24/7 support”), it’s usually smarter to set it once at the account level and let it cover everything it should.
Where advertisers get into trouble is treating callouts like a “checkbox optimization.” If you force campaign-level callouts everywhere, you often create unnecessary complexity, inconsistent messaging, and accidental conflicts where the platform can’t use your best callouts because you attached something more specific (even just one callout) at a lower level.
How callout assets really work (and why “every campaign” is the wrong default)
1) Level matters: account vs. campaign vs. ad group (and overrides are real)
You can attach callout assets at the account, campaign, or ad group level. The critical operational detail is that more specific levels override broader levels. In practice, that means if you add callouts at the ad group level, those ad group callouts can prevent your campaign-level callouts from being eligible for those ads. Likewise, campaign-level callouts can override account-level callouts for that campaign.
This is the main reason I don’t recommend blindly adding callouts to every campaign. If your goal is “coverage,” you can achieve that with strong account-level callouts. If your goal is “message control,” you should only go more granular when the campaign truly needs different promises.
2) Callouts don’t show on every impression (even if everything is set up correctly)
Adding callout assets doesn’t guarantee they’ll appear every time. Whether callouts show depends on factors like predicted performance, available space, and the overall competitiveness of the auction. If your ad rank/position isn’t strong enough, you may see fewer assets (or none) even when they’re approved and eligible.
That’s why I coach teams to judge callouts by incremental performance over time (CTR, conversion rate, and downstream lead quality), not by “I searched once and didn’t see them.”
3) There’s no fee to add callouts, but they can change how your ads compete
You’re not charged simply for having callouts. Charges still happen through normal ad interactions. In many cases, ads with strong assets earn more prominence and more engagement, which can be a win—but it can also mean your visible performance shifts (including CPC patterns) because your ad is competing differently.
The practical takeaway: callouts are usually a positive lever, but the objective isn’t “more assets everywhere.” The objective is “the right assets, where they belong, with clean measurement.”
A strategy that usually outperforms “add callouts to every campaign”
Step 1: Build evergreen account-level callouts for universal value props
Start by creating a small set of callouts that are true across your business and won’t change weekly. This gives you broad coverage without repeating setup work. Think of these as your “always-on trust and convenience stack.” Examples that often work well (when true): shipping/returns terms, availability, service guarantees, financing options, support hours, or experience signals.
Keep your callouts short and scannable. In most languages, you’re working with a tight character limit, so every word needs to earn its place. Also, avoid gimmicky punctuation or symbol-heavy callouts that try to “game” attention—those tend to create approval issues or simply underperform because they look less credible.
Step 2: Add campaign-level callouts only when the promise changes
Campaign-level callouts are ideal when a subset of campaigns has a distinct offer, audience, or fulfillment model that doesn’t apply everywhere. For example, maybe only one product line has “Same-day delivery,” only one region has “In-store pickup,” or only your clearance campaign legitimately has “Extra 20% off.”
If you’re tempted to add campaign-level callouts just because you can, pause and ask: Is this message meaningfully different from my account-level callouts? If not, you’re often better off leaving the campaign alone and letting your account-level assets do their job.
Step 3: Use ad group-level callouts for true exceptions (not for micromanagement)
Ad group-level callouts are powerful, but they come with a hidden cost: they can unintentionally block higher-level callouts from serving, which reduces the platform’s eligible pool to choose from. I reserve ad group callouts for scenarios where specificity is essential—like a product category with unique warranty terms, a service line with a different turnaround time, or a brand constraint that applies to only one theme.
Step 4: Give the system enough options—but keep them clean
Callouts are selected dynamically from the eligible pool, and only a limited number may show at once. You want enough variety that the platform can assemble the best combination for different queries, devices, and audiences—without flooding the account with near-duplicates.
In most accounts, a practical sweet spot is having at least 4 solid callouts available at the level you’re targeting (account or campaign), and often 6–10 if you have multiple strong, distinct value props. You can associate far more than that, but quantity stops helping once you’re repeating yourself or adding weak “filler” callouts.
When you actually should add callout assets to every campaign
There are a few cases where “every campaign gets its own callouts” is reasonable. It typically happens when you have distinct business lines living in one account and each line has different non-negotiable promises (shipping, returns, eligibility, compliance language, appointment requirements, etc.). Another common case is when different campaigns represent different locations or service models where a universal callout would be misleading.
Even then, my preference is to structure callouts so you’re not hand-building duplicates. If campaigns share a common truth, keep it higher level. If they don’t, go granular—but do it intentionally and consistently.
Critical diagnostic checklist (use this when callouts aren’t showing or aren’t helping)
- Check level conflicts: If you attached even one callout at the ad group level, you may have unintentionally made your campaign-level callouts ineligible for that ad group.
- Confirm approval status: Approved assets can serve; disapproved ones won’t. Fix disapprovals instead of duplicating new callouts that repeat the same problem.
- Remove “attention hacks”: Overuse of punctuation/symbols, unnatural capitalization, or repetitive phrasing can cause issues and almost always reduces trust.
- Ensure each callout is distinct: If you have five versions of “Free Shipping,” you’re not adding strength—you’re diluting the eligible pool with duplicates.
- Improve eligibility conditions: If your ads rarely show any assets, it can be a position/ad-rank issue. Strengthen relevance (better intent alignment) and improve creative quality, not just asset quantity.
- Watch scheduling and device settings: If callouts are scheduled too tightly (or set to mobile-only), you may have inadvertently limited when they can serve.
- Make sure the promise is true for the traffic you’re buying: Misleading callouts don’t just create policy risk—they also create conversion-rate drag from mismatched expectations.
Bottom line: the best practice answer
If you want the strongest, lowest-maintenance setup: put universal callouts at the account level, then add campaign-level callouts only when the offer truly differs, and use ad group callouts sparingly for genuine exceptions. That approach typically produces better message consistency, fewer accidental overrides, and a healthier eligible pool for the platform to choose the best-performing callouts from—without turning your account into an asset-management nightmare.
Let AI handle
the Google Ads grunt work
| Audit question | Best‑practice answer | Recommended setup | When to go more granular | Key checks & diagnostics | Relevant Google Ads docs |
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| Should I add callout assets to every campaign? | No. Aim for full callout coverage across eligible ads, but don’t duplicate assets into every campaign by default. Use the broadest level that keeps messaging accurate and scalable. |
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| How do asset levels (account, campaign, ad group) affect callouts? | More specific levels override broader ones. Ad group callouts override campaign‑level callouts, and campaign‑level callouts override account‑level callouts for the same ad inventory. |
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| Why don’t callouts show on every impression? | Even when correctly set up and approved, callouts are not guaranteed to show on every impression. Serving depends on ad rank, available space, predicted performance, device, and auction context. |
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| Is there any extra cost or risk to adding more callouts? | There’s no direct fee for adding callouts; you still pay for normal ad interactions. However, stronger assets can change how often and where your ads show, which can shift CPCs and overall performance. |
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| When is “every campaign gets its own callouts” actually appropriate? | Only when campaigns represent truly distinct business lines, locations, or service models whose promises can’t be accurately represented with shared account‑level callouts. |
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| What’s the practical “bottom line” setup? | The most reliable, low‑maintenance setup is: universal callouts at account level, campaign‑level callouts only when offers truly differ, and ad group callouts used sparingly for genuine exceptions. |
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Let AI handle
the Google Ads grunt work
Not necessarily. A good rule is to aim for strong callout coverage across your eligible ads without copying the same assets into every single campaign by default: start with a small set of evergreen, account-level callouts (like shipping, returns, support, guarantees) that are true for most traffic, then only go more granular at the campaign or ad group level when an offer or fulfillment promise genuinely differs, since more specific levels can override broader ones and accidentally block other callouts from serving. Also remember callouts won’t show on every impression even when everything is set up correctly, so judge them on performance trends (CTR, conversion rate, lead quality) and keep an eye on approvals, duplicates, and “shouty” low-trust wording. If you want a faster way to audit what’s actually eligible where and which callouts are underperforming, Blobr plugs into your Google Ads and can run specialized agents like its Callout Extension Optimizer to review recent performance and suggest fact-based, ready-to-upload improvements while you stay in control of where and how changes get applied.
Should you add callout assets to every campaign?
Not by default. In most accounts, the best-performing (and easiest-to-manage) approach is to make sure every eligible ad has callout coverage, but that doesn’t mean duplicating callouts across every single campaign. Callout assets work best when they’re relevant, accurate, and scalable. If a callout applies broadly (for example, “Free shipping” or “24/7 support”), it’s usually smarter to set it once at the account level and let it cover everything it should.
Where advertisers get into trouble is treating callouts like a “checkbox optimization.” If you force campaign-level callouts everywhere, you often create unnecessary complexity, inconsistent messaging, and accidental conflicts where the platform can’t use your best callouts because you attached something more specific (even just one callout) at a lower level.
How callout assets really work (and why “every campaign” is the wrong default)
1) Level matters: account vs. campaign vs. ad group (and overrides are real)
You can attach callout assets at the account, campaign, or ad group level. The critical operational detail is that more specific levels override broader levels. In practice, that means if you add callouts at the ad group level, those ad group callouts can prevent your campaign-level callouts from being eligible for those ads. Likewise, campaign-level callouts can override account-level callouts for that campaign.
This is the main reason I don’t recommend blindly adding callouts to every campaign. If your goal is “coverage,” you can achieve that with strong account-level callouts. If your goal is “message control,” you should only go more granular when the campaign truly needs different promises.
2) Callouts don’t show on every impression (even if everything is set up correctly)
Adding callout assets doesn’t guarantee they’ll appear every time. Whether callouts show depends on factors like predicted performance, available space, and the overall competitiveness of the auction. If your ad rank/position isn’t strong enough, you may see fewer assets (or none) even when they’re approved and eligible.
That’s why I coach teams to judge callouts by incremental performance over time (CTR, conversion rate, and downstream lead quality), not by “I searched once and didn’t see them.”
3) There’s no fee to add callouts, but they can change how your ads compete
You’re not charged simply for having callouts. Charges still happen through normal ad interactions. In many cases, ads with strong assets earn more prominence and more engagement, which can be a win—but it can also mean your visible performance shifts (including CPC patterns) because your ad is competing differently.
The practical takeaway: callouts are usually a positive lever, but the objective isn’t “more assets everywhere.” The objective is “the right assets, where they belong, with clean measurement.”
A strategy that usually outperforms “add callouts to every campaign”
Step 1: Build evergreen account-level callouts for universal value props
Start by creating a small set of callouts that are true across your business and won’t change weekly. This gives you broad coverage without repeating setup work. Think of these as your “always-on trust and convenience stack.” Examples that often work well (when true): shipping/returns terms, availability, service guarantees, financing options, support hours, or experience signals.
Keep your callouts short and scannable. In most languages, you’re working with a tight character limit, so every word needs to earn its place. Also, avoid gimmicky punctuation or symbol-heavy callouts that try to “game” attention—those tend to create approval issues or simply underperform because they look less credible.
Step 2: Add campaign-level callouts only when the promise changes
Campaign-level callouts are ideal when a subset of campaigns has a distinct offer, audience, or fulfillment model that doesn’t apply everywhere. For example, maybe only one product line has “Same-day delivery,” only one region has “In-store pickup,” or only your clearance campaign legitimately has “Extra 20% off.”
If you’re tempted to add campaign-level callouts just because you can, pause and ask: Is this message meaningfully different from my account-level callouts? If not, you’re often better off leaving the campaign alone and letting your account-level assets do their job.
Step 3: Use ad group-level callouts for true exceptions (not for micromanagement)
Ad group-level callouts are powerful, but they come with a hidden cost: they can unintentionally block higher-level callouts from serving, which reduces the platform’s eligible pool to choose from. I reserve ad group callouts for scenarios where specificity is essential—like a product category with unique warranty terms, a service line with a different turnaround time, or a brand constraint that applies to only one theme.
Step 4: Give the system enough options—but keep them clean
Callouts are selected dynamically from the eligible pool, and only a limited number may show at once. You want enough variety that the platform can assemble the best combination for different queries, devices, and audiences—without flooding the account with near-duplicates.
In most accounts, a practical sweet spot is having at least 4 solid callouts available at the level you’re targeting (account or campaign), and often 6–10 if you have multiple strong, distinct value props. You can associate far more than that, but quantity stops helping once you’re repeating yourself or adding weak “filler” callouts.
When you actually should add callout assets to every campaign
There are a few cases where “every campaign gets its own callouts” is reasonable. It typically happens when you have distinct business lines living in one account and each line has different non-negotiable promises (shipping, returns, eligibility, compliance language, appointment requirements, etc.). Another common case is when different campaigns represent different locations or service models where a universal callout would be misleading.
Even then, my preference is to structure callouts so you’re not hand-building duplicates. If campaigns share a common truth, keep it higher level. If they don’t, go granular—but do it intentionally and consistently.
Critical diagnostic checklist (use this when callouts aren’t showing or aren’t helping)
- Check level conflicts: If you attached even one callout at the ad group level, you may have unintentionally made your campaign-level callouts ineligible for that ad group.
- Confirm approval status: Approved assets can serve; disapproved ones won’t. Fix disapprovals instead of duplicating new callouts that repeat the same problem.
- Remove “attention hacks”: Overuse of punctuation/symbols, unnatural capitalization, or repetitive phrasing can cause issues and almost always reduces trust.
- Ensure each callout is distinct: If you have five versions of “Free Shipping,” you’re not adding strength—you’re diluting the eligible pool with duplicates.
- Improve eligibility conditions: If your ads rarely show any assets, it can be a position/ad-rank issue. Strengthen relevance (better intent alignment) and improve creative quality, not just asset quantity.
- Watch scheduling and device settings: If callouts are scheduled too tightly (or set to mobile-only), you may have inadvertently limited when they can serve.
- Make sure the promise is true for the traffic you’re buying: Misleading callouts don’t just create policy risk—they also create conversion-rate drag from mismatched expectations.
Bottom line: the best practice answer
If you want the strongest, lowest-maintenance setup: put universal callouts at the account level, then add campaign-level callouts only when the offer truly differs, and use ad group callouts sparingly for genuine exceptions. That approach typically produces better message consistency, fewer accidental overrides, and a healthier eligible pool for the platform to choose the best-performing callouts from—without turning your account into an asset-management nightmare.
